Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-03-24
Mr. BEECHER'S last SERMON
IT WAS DELIVERED AT PLYMOUTH CHURCH
SUNDAY EVENING, FEB. II.

Should be Subordinated to Our Better
Selves if We Would Succeed Here and
Hereafter.
MIR. Beechers last sermon was delivered in
Plymouth Church Sunday night Feb. "a. II.
Wiman reported it as follows, for The Men
York World:
"And he said unto his disciples, There was o
certain rich man which had a servant, and the
same was accused unto him. n No SER
want can serve two masters; for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or else he will
hold to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and Mammon."
Text-Luke, xvi. chap, iv. verse, the first
clause: 81 am resolved what to do"
Il read in your hearing this narrative, this
parable of our Lord. The unjust steward has
been accused, and rightfully, of bctraying his
trust and wasting that committed to him. His
master called him TO an account, and he was
satisfied that the end had come; and he COM
muned with himself, and as the result OF that,
and looking over all the circumstances, he
said, n am resolved what to do"
"What he resolved to do was not very hon
est, but it was very shrewd. He resolved to
make friends of all the debtors Of his lord He
called them up and settled with them in such
way as TO lay them under igatiOns-grau-
tude TO Him. Ana SO, although he and they
cheated the master, he made his own nest
warm and the master praised him--not Jesus,
but the man that owned the property is the one,
When he heard of it he said to himself: "Well,
that Is shrewd; that's cunnlng: that is WISE
and the comment on II is: "Childrcn OF this
world are wiser than the children of light;
that is to say, men who arc acting in worldly
reasons, for worldly reasons, are very much
wiser than the men becoming good from the
highest moral considerations. But that that
they have selected is simply this: II am rcsolv-
CD what to do.n
"What then is the nature of a resolution
what Is the scope Of it, the potency! And
what are the drawbacks! The sell-considera-
tion Of these questions may throw light upon
the path Of many of us. Now, our long effort
of making up our mind is equivalent to form
ing Il purpose. When man resolves, he
means, or he should mean, to do something;
and all resolutions carry, or should carry, not
simply the end sought, but also the capable
and necessary means by which the end Is
sought. i am resolved to cross the river, by
the bridge, by boat or by swimming. To stand
on one side and TO resolve to be on the other,
without any intermediate means of doing 1t,
would be folly indeed. / am resolved TO NOR
row to 20 to market. All the intermediate
and implied steps by which that resolution
could be carried out are included in the res
olutiOn itself A resolution is purpose in
so far as simple things, uncompOunded, in
complex, are concerned. A resolution may be
executed Immediately, without loss of time;
indeed, the greatest number of resolutions
are those which like the stroke of the ham
mer or the explosion of gun, are almost with
out any apprCciablc interlapsc of time. 4 am
resolved what to do Natural resolutions:
At the cry of fire the man instantly looks out
TO see what to do at the call of man to step
TO the door and see a stranger or a friend; he
resolves to do it; although the resolution is
latent in such sense by repetition, he is not
conscious of making UP his mind.
In regard to a great many of the acts of a
mans litC, CcrebratiOn-that is to say, the
action OF the brain-has become so common
that It takes place without any appreciable
appearance of taking place. \ multitude of
thngs-n one gets in a crowd, and man
would strike him, his defense is not the result
OF reflection, and yet it was in him as re.
suit of experience to protect himself; and, If it
be SHADOW, it is just the same, for a shadow
seems like II substance, and he puts himself
in ludiCrous attitude of defense; he smiles,
and goes on, but the action of the mind, the
Unconscious CcrcbratiOn, is there. AS, for in
stance, in things that apply to the now, that
are incorporated aud simple, man resolves
and executes almost at the same moment
The child calls from above, Father, and in
Cidently there is no thought whether he shall
or not answer, yet the train goes on within
him, and he replies, My son, whatP Or the
call has come to him for help, and he in
stantly, before the last echo of the sound dies
out of his ear, he is on his feet, on his way.
But these are very simple things they are the
primary forms, which afterwards becoming
more and more complicated, running through
longer periods Of time, imply great many
Intermediate steps. For q man can resolve
that he will 20 to bcd--it doesn't take long
either-he resolves that tomorrow morning
he VIII get up and 90 cruising but tO-mor-
row is dark and stormy, and the resolution is
not half so strong when he wakes up as it
was when lie went TO bed. There are a great
many considerations that come. Or the man
resolves that to morrow he will go to market;
neighhOrS come in: lie waits; 1t is noon, and
then time is too little to 90. And come again
And be puts it of until next morning. So
between the resolution and the night-for
one takes hold upon the other-thcs- = a
delay and the intermediate history.
Now, as YOU 90 on in this life, as society
Itself becomes more cOmpleX-cviliZatio Is
growth in cOmpieXitv-- as the things that
YOU resolve TO do not to do are largely in their
times. and are clustered together by cause
and effect resolutions spreading over so long
spaces and SO much intermediatism is some
what different from the first resolve.
Resolution, then, means a purpose, the
will itSef and 1t includes In it, also, all indis-
pcnsible intermediate steps; and some resolu-
tionS execute themselves Immediately; some
with some delay; some with long delay; some
through many subordinate resolutions that
carry out the primary one. And man may
resolve at a critical moment that which will
determine the whole character of his life; yea,
he may determine in any one single, final mo-
meut that which will take the whole of his
life to carry into effect. This is the case of
ten thousand men. When my father was
yourg, a lad Che was brought up by, substan-
TALLY, an unce), he had In him all that was
necessary TO make him what he was in his
professional life. But he didn't IL; he was
careless; be was needless; he was forgetful of
things external; and so Uncle Lot Benton one
morning, going out, found that being out
late with the horses the night before, visiting
some young company, the bride was placed
over the water-trough and the saddle was
thrown down behind the stable door, and the
horses turned in without halter, and he said,
oh, well, Lyman will never make a farmer
he is not fitted for it And SO talking in the
orchard with him one day, be says Lyman,
how would you like to go to college?" No
answer. They went on working all day. Next
day about the same hour, as they were working
together in the orchard, Lyman SAYS: IwOuld
like to go, sir That settled 1t. In that be-
ginning was a purpose that shaped differently
his whole life: it never gave out; 1t branch.
ed in every direction; he made what he was;
that was owing to the parting; by not, he
would have been a miserable farmer: he made
tolably good minister and tolerably good
father.
so, then, q man may form a resolution
without noise without parade, but that with
INFINITE sequences in its development It may
include in itself short process and 40 inter.
mediate; 1t may include in itself longer pro
cess; it may include in itself the whole scope
Of a mans life, aud thrice ten thousand reso
lutiOns will be formed successfully to cary out
the great primary resolution which a mar
makes Thus, If man is to be lawyer he IL
not going to he blacksmith, nor a sailor, MOI
a soldier, so that there is the resolution of ex
clusion; it turns him away from those thing
inconsistent with the first element. If he il
to be lawyer there must be the question o
education, and a professional education, anC
all the conditions which are prerequisite Il
the presenting himself to the court and hi
license to plead and the beginnings OF practice
All OF those are wrapped up in the first de
termination, Il will be lawyer;' but that de
termination don't make him one; it starts hin
on a long train Of events that are necessary 4
make him law, err. And So in regard to morali
ty, a young man NAV stand on the Threshold
OF life; he may resolve that he will see tn
world; and the man that means to see every
thing IN the world will probably see a goo
deal under the world, by and by, that he won
care about seeing. man who resolves, O
the other hand, i believe in honesty; 1t Is tn
best principle Out it is better than nothing :
say. That is the best policy; 1t is good pol
cy; all good policy is principle; all goo
principles carry with them a policy. And
young man. be saws, Il am determined to
an honest and upright man. that at one
spreads to other men he won't associate wit
certain ones, he will associate with certa!
others; he won't follow rtain things; he wi
seek other paths; the resolution Sits life f
him out Of its discipline, and another resolI